What exactly did Mr Key say?

John Key concedes he has privately indicated to the Maori Party that National’s policy to abolish the Maori seats would not stand in the way of doing a deal with the party post-election.

What did Mr Key say in that debate again?

Shane Taurima: ” Pita Sharples said that you told him privately that you would not abolish the Maori seats without Maori consent. Now since saying that you have denied saying that, are you calling Dr Sharples a liar?’

John Key: “Look I have never given that assurance. We have had many meetings with the Maori Party “

A lot of voters (including me) will see this as lying – just as they saw his Tranzrail lying eyes on TV.

Update: I kept watching the debate and caught this even more clear cut quote:Mark Sainsbury: Why would Pita Sharples say that then?Key: “Well I think he’s got that wrong, I’m sorry but he’s got it wrong, there is no formal agreement.” (note – Key was not being asked about whether there was a formal agreement).

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50 comments on “What exactly did Mr Key say?”

It will seem to be a small point to Key supporters but it is not. This is a would-be PM, who has to be very reliable. Over a time of 9 years the worst that Helen Clark has been accused of is signing a painting for charity which she did not lie about- admitted freely but not for personal gain. Remember the roar of disapproval over that? This along with Rail shares, not touch Kiwisaver, lies about unemployment, crime etc suggest a dodgy fella. Actually I have been wondering about what John did for a job. What does a money trader actually do? Does he produce a product, invest in an idea or business?

I don’t see it as lying. I don’t think many people believe that every policy a party has under MMP is non-negotiable or a bottom line. What I also know is that John Key is very unlikely to have completed coalition negotiations with the Maori Party, or even commenced such negotiations, before the election.

So saying one thing in private and another thing in public is ok behaviour from those who seek to run the country? Wait a minute, isn’t that what happened with English’s plans to sell Kiwibank “Eventually”? Didn’t we find out from Merril Lynch that the Nats had been talking privatisation of ACC before they announced their policy? Didn’t Key mislead Fran Mold over TranzRail? Didn’t Key try to avoid remembering whether he met with Lord Ashcroft? etc etc etc

Mr Key continued to say no agreement had been made and that would remain so until after the election on November 8.”

This being the case, he is quite entitled to say no assurance had been given. All that has been stated by his admission is that the policy is negotiable. This is a huge difference and certainly not an assurance of any kind.

There are probably a number of areas of policy that are negotiable, but this does not necessarily mean that all these aspects will be conceded in the actual negotiations. All that is being done is flagging areas where there is some flexibility for future discussions.

So, there is no contradiction with his debate statement whatsoever. The only contradiction is in the minds of those who want to see one.

Tony, why do you think Key repeatedly said there was no “formal agreement” in the debate, when that was not the question at all? Weasel words is the term that springs to mind. no one was asking him if he’d signed teh bloody policy away, yet that’s what he was pretending…

Given that he said there was no assurance, and now he’s saying there was an assurance, there’s only no lie for those who don’t want to see one.

Tim, no one is talking about formal negitiations. You’re doing exactly what Key did during the debate. It made him look like a liar at the time..perhaps you should consider that.

The bottom line to me is that Key now admits that such discussion did take place but Key had denied it thrice, and accused Sharples of being mistaken and . This is lying! It is no use saying that there was no formal agreement – no one even suggested that there was! Does being a money-trader gain useful experience for leading honestly? Actually what does a money trader actually do? Anyone?

Milo: He denied the Sharples version at least thrice in the Leaders Debate and followed that up in interviews the following day. He blamed Sharples for getting it wrong. Make that at least 4! Knowing that it was wrong is a lie.

Milo: Where in earth did you get the “formal agreement “from?? No-one has used those words except John Key! And that was to say that there wasn’t one. Duh? The issue is that John repeatedly said that there was no understanding, saying that Sharples was wrong to say so. Remember that Bill English was at the same meeting and has not denied Sharples version. If John knew that it was wrong and that an understanding had been reached, then he was lying. Milo: Do you think that a would-be PM should be honest and reliable?

1 million people saw it with their own eyes – they’re not coming to some conclusion based on second-hand spin from the nz herald or stuff or some long-winded explanation about some or other technicality.

wether someone is lying or not: people make this sort of judgement all the time – people have a certain instinct about these things – you don’t need a whole lot of background info/spin to inform that judgement.

Tim, no one is talking about formal negitiations. You’re doing exactly what Key did during the debate. It made him look like a liar at the time..perhaps you should consider that.

No I don’t think it made him look like a liar, Matthew. That is your perspective, and I think that’s at the heart of this issue. Most people on the Right think that Helen Clark aided and abetted Winston Peters lying to the public over donations to NZ First. Most people on the Left, presumably, think it wasn’t her business to inquire further. Likewise, I suspect most people on the right think that what John Key is saying has no contradiction, while most people on the left will jump up and scream about it.

I don’t doubt that you honestly hold your opinion. But it is an entrenched opinion that is formed from your political bias, just as mine is.

I understand where you’re coming from. I just happen to disagree with your conclusion, just as you happen to disagree with many of my conclusions about the Peters saga and what Helen Clark knew, and whether she should have acted.

Crikey Tim. there was a pretty big outcry after Clark admitted that she knew about the conflict but didn’t do anything. I’m surprised you’t want to draw such a comparison.

What stuck in my mind was Key saying unequivocally Sharples had got it wrong, yet only denying a ‘formal agreement’. Sharples never implied there was such a formal agreement, it was a tool (a straw-man) Key used to attempt to avoid the question. However when he said Sharples was wrong, and later admitted he was right, he’d admitted to lying on that point – and also shown the ‘formal agreement’ point to be the straw-man that it was.

Crikey Tim. there was a pretty big outcry after Clark admitted that she knew about the conflict but didn’t do anything. I’m surprised you’t want to draw such a comparison.

I distinctly recall, Matthew, plenty of Labour Party sources, and a number of commenters here at the Standard doing plenty of “wriggling” over it, defending Helen Clark’s position. I have no reason to think they did not honestly believe what they were saying.

What stuck in my mind was Key saying unequivocally Sharples had got it wrong, yet only denying a â€˜formal agreement’.

Key never said that Sharples was lying. He just said that Sharples’ interpretation of the discussion was different to Key’s interpretation. As far as Key was concerned, Sharples’ interpretation was wrong.

Sharples never implied there was such a formal agreement, it was a tool (a straw-man) Key used to attempt to avoid the question.

I disagree that it was a straw-man. It is my view that in Key’s mind, nothing is negotiated or agreed before an election. Key regularly sits down with the Maori Party to discuss issues and keep in touch. That doesn’t constitute a negotiation. For Key to have agreed with Sharples’ point would have constituted a negotiation. I don’t think there’s any basis for believing that Key was negotiating with Sharples. As I see it, Sharples was indicating that the Maori seats issue was a bottom-line for the Maori Party, and Key indicated that he understood that it was a bottom-line issue for the Maori Party. Sharples took that indication as an agreement, rather than an understanding of Sharples’ position.

However when he said Sharples was wrong, and later admitted he was right, he’d admitted to lying on that point

Where did you get this from? From what I have read, Key didn’t say anything of the sort. He seems to have said later that he admitted to the Maori Party that the Maori seats issue would not be a bottom-line negotiating issue for the National Party. To me that doesn’t look like a concession of the policy at all. It’s not the outcome of a negotiation–it’s just an exploration, before the election, of potential policy compatibility.

I understand the Labour Party’s interest in beating this up as something much bigger than it is–they are deeply worried that the Maori Party will find their policies are more compatible to National than Labour. But I simply disagree that Key has somehow been caught out lying.

John Key started out as a money trader but by the time he moved to Merrill Lynch he did something entirely different albeit linked to the forex trade.

John Key had become a specialist in the Bonds and Derivatives trade. After the Bankers trust collapsed in 1995 after the Bank had been found guilty of Derivatives fraud John Key was head hunted by Merrill Lynch to become the global head for forex and the European head for Bonds and Derivatives (according to his own website). Watch this video if you want to know what that means.

Next to that he was an upon invitation only advisor to Alan Greenspan and the privately owned Federal Reserve of New York, right at the time the bonds and Derivatives trade started to bubble up and in 1999 he had two years until he left to make a final killing in the totally unregulated rigged Casino that is selling Bonds and Derivatives to unsuspecting pension funds, Governments and Corporations.

In other words while the bankers were fully aware that Bonds and Derivatives were a mixture of good and bad loans, good and bad corporate debt or a stable and unstable bag of currencies they sold the bundles of crap as all tripple A rated and they are letting the chips fall were they may because they pocketed the money and when the music stops i.e. when the underlying assets (House mortgages, Corporate loans, Currencies) usually hyped up with an artificial bubble of easy credit collapses those holding the devalued derivatives (as in deriving their value from underlying real world assets) are the suckers. At Bankers Trust they had a term for how much the could rip of their customers. It was ROF (Rip off Factor)

Not only that, against the money received they started to loan money out again. At the time Merrill Lynch finally collapsed they had a leveraged themselves 60:1 that is they loaned 60 fictitious dollars against 1 real dollar. Money out of thin air. (And this is while commercial bank are regulated to have no more than a leverage of 10:1 to prevent bank runs.

And now all these banks, pension funds, mortgage lenders and insurers are collapsing (today Merrill Lynch wrote down more than 5.6 billion in toxic debt again today)

You see it’s the speculative (Guesstimates are talking about 1 or 2 quadrillion(1000trillion) of speculative digital “money” sloshing around the worlds financial system) bonds and derivatives trade over the last 21 years that is now imploding and John Key was very much in the centre of it and he may have missed the last 7 years of this fraud fest but make no mistake as early as 2002 Warren Buffet warned already that the Bonds and Derivatives trade was a weapon of mass destruction.

This didn’t start in the last 2 years this is only the end of 21 years of unmitigated Bankers greed and lies and John Key sharked around with the nastiest of them. The “Smiling Assassin” as he was fondly known by his colleagues made his $ 50 mill by systematically selling crap financial products and lying while he did it.

All those mom and pop investors who have lost their savings in the financial investment groups in NZ have lost their money because when the real economy of the US began to contract as people were maxed out on their mortgages and credit cards could no longer afford their luxury lifestyle.

This is when the derivatives business started to come undone. Banks all of a sudden realised that these subprime mortgages , bad corporate debt and collapsing currencies could be anywhere in the financial system and they stopped lending. The financial investment groups in New Zealand could no longer meet their payments and other commitments as a result and bingo all went belly up.

There is no stopping it, no propping up and no amount of fake fiat currency can save this system. It’s dead, the US economy is no more because only 12% of the GDP comes from actual productive jobs. 33% came from the financial industry with its fake financial products and the rest some 55% of the jobs are in the service sector and that sector from Expensive coffee to take, hospitals, fire fighters police, McDonald hamburgers to furniture shops is entirely dependant on excess money people have to spare. No money not honey. the US economy is a dead man walking and that in turn makes our future extremely bleak too. And the only result of giving money to the banks is that they will hoard that too and it will start a hyperinflation that the rest of us will have to cope with.

Travellerev: That’s terrific. I have copied onto my own file so I can take time to understand it all. I guess that when John described himself on the Leaders Debate, as a “Very Successful Businessman” he was referring to you outline. Hmmm. Do you think your info should get a wider audience? You would think that someone who was so good with money, would have knowingly said in the LD: “one in 5 households cannot pay their power bills.” Thats 20% right? Today in the Press the Power people say no. It is about 2% or 1 in 50. Deliberate?

Tim, most of the ‘wriggling’ I was doing, for example, was pointing out that Clark was party to a private conversation and did not feel like it was within her bounds to release the details of said private conversation.

Pita Sharples felt no such compulsion, and that’s clearly not a defence Key can use, since Sharples revealed the content of the discussion on national tv!

C’mon, man, you say it’s not a straw-man but do nothing in that para to prove it’s not. No one was talking about a formal agreement. No one except Key. Key made up this concept that there wasn’t a formal agreement to hide that he’d given up the goose informally – saying one thing in private and another in public.

He did, though, say that Sharples was mistaken – wasn’t it pretty much in those words? I haven’t a transcript of the debate handy, but I thought it was fairly close to that. The last question was very direct, as was the answer. He’s later conceeded that he was mistaken, not Sharples – that it was not a bottom line.

Tim: “As I see it, Sharples was indicating that the Maori seats issue was a bottom-line for the Maori Party, and Key indicated that he understood that it was a bottom-line issue for the Maori Party. Sharples took that indication as an agreement, rather than an understanding of Sharples’ position.”

Key: “He said Dr Sharples had raised the issue with him many times.

“I’ve certainly acknowledged it is not a bottom line for us.”

All along Sharples was saying the above – and Key was implying that Sharples was wrong, confused, mistaken, whatever. Key’s words above show that to be a lie, and that your interpretation isn’t correct.

The alternative, if you want to take a generous view, is that Key realises he’s been outplayed, and is accepting Sharple’s point of view (that key conceded it wasn’t a bottom line – that those seats won’t go ’till Maori agree) in public to avoid pissing Sharples off any more than he probably has. Key is losing face, but perhaps a good tactical move, if that’s what he’s doing, to be nice to the MP.

I wouldn’t give Key that much credit though, if he was smart enough to figure that extricating himself from the situation in such a fashion would be a good move, he wouldn’t have got himself sucked into it in the first place.

Felix: I guess the lalala stuff from Tim is understandable as a reaction to your idol maybe having feet of clay. And he has put up a reasonable attempt at a defence. Better than some of the mindless screaming on other blogs. Cheers

Lampie. I know the time you are talking about.. said ‘Helen Clark’ but ‘Clark’ sounded a lot like ‘Key’ with his loose pronounciation and talking over Clark.. in fact one of the people I was watching with was sure he had said Key too but checked it out and it was definitely ‘Clark’. rest assured, we would have been mocking him for days if he had got that wrong.

just goes to show what the worm was for – so the journos know who ‘won’ without having to analyse the actual debate in any depth. They replaced it with the phone poll – same thing but it least it didn’t distract during the debate.

Power Bills Apology: Sorry. Steve checked it out and Key was meant that 1 in 5 had bills in general in default and not just the power bill. Although that is still a very high number. Where would you get that figure from. 1 in 5. Wow!

C’mon, man, you say it’s not a straw-man but do nothing in that para to prove it’s not. No one was talking about a formal agreement. No one except Key. Key made up this concept that there wasn’t a formal agreement to hide that he’d given up the goose informally – saying one thing in private and another in public.

No, I don’t agree. It would have been a straw man if Key had been splitting hairs about whether the agreement was a formal one or otherwise. I’m saying there wasn’t an agreement at all. Key’s view is that he did not concede the point to Sharples. He just agreed that it was Sharples’ bottom-line position on the Maori seats.

If I’m in a negotiation with you, Matthew, (and Key wasn’t in a negotiation with Sharples), then one of the first things we do is work out what respective bottom-line positions are. Just because I happen to understand what your bottom line is, doesn’t mean that I’ve given that away to you. If we were negotiating, then I’d want something in return for you getting your bottom line through. Key spent all his commercial career negotiating deals. Do you really think he would freely give up one of the key bargaining chips to the Maori Party before the election, with nothing in return?

He did, though, say that Sharples was mistaken – wasn’t it pretty much in those words?

Yes that’s right, he did. He said that Sharples was mistaken that Key had agreed to forego the Maori seats abolition. Now, Sharples may have interpreted Key’s understanding that it was the Maori Party’s bottom-line, but that doesn’t mean Key actually gave it up.

He’s later conceeded that he was mistaken, not Sharples – that it was not a bottom line.

I don’t think Key has conceded that at all. As I understand it, Key has said he understood that the issue was a bottom line for Sharples, and said it probably won’t be a bottom-line for National. None of that information is actually earth-shattering news. Not every policy that main political parties announce are bottom lines–otherwise they’d never conclude coalition negotiations with anyone.

“He just agreed that it was Sharples’ bottom-line position on the Maori seats.

No he didn’t. I reckon this was pretty clear. Read Key’s comment again:

The Herald comment:” He said Dr Sharples had raised the issue with him many times.”

Key’s quote: “I’ve certainly acknowledged it is not a bottom line for us.”

I’m not sure how you’ve been able to read that as Key agreeing it was Sharples’ position on the issue. Key is saying it’s not the Nat’s bottom line (the Nats being ‘us’ in Key’s comment), nothing on whether it’s Sharples’ bottom line.

The straw man: Key is making up an argument about it being a formal agreement. No one was saying that at all. They were just asking whether Key had agreed that dropping Maori seats was not a bottom line, or at least said that in private to Sharples.

Seems to be a classic example of a straw man argument. He gets asked about whether he’s made the concession in private – nothing formal though. Key replies, “no, there’s no formal agreement”. The ‘formal agreement’ meets every test you can apply about being a straw-man argument.

I’d say more on your comment but I’m not exactly compos mentis! Will get back to you tomorrow.

As I understand it, Key has said he understood that the issue was a bottom line for Sharples, and said it probably won’t be a bottom-line for National.

fergawdsake. National don’t even know where their bottom lines are at. That’s the defence. hahaha.

And this nonsense about not being in negotiations should stop. Of course they were negotiating. There isn’t a little bell that rings that signals that negotiations are starting now.

One side was saying “this is a bottom line. Are we still talking?”

Other side says “yeah, we’re still talking”.

That’s negotiating Tim.

The fact that they are negotiating what a hypothetical future deal’s baseline will be, doesn’t change the fact that side A told side B that in that future negotiation side B’s bottom line on X was doable.

That’s an agreement that X would be a part of any deal they might come to. Which is what Key lied about.

He lied about it because the National’s policy on the Maori seats is just a pander to the “treaty grievance train” mob that Brash hoovered up at Orewa1, and he still wants their votes.

The fact that getting rid of the Maori seats will get rid of the tories overhang problem is just a bonus, (and no longer necessary if the National Party can form a working relationship with the maori Party).

The negotiations, stripped of all the diplomatic speak :

NP: We have a policy to get rid of the Maori seats, but we could ditch that if you support us. ( don’t support us and….)

mP: Glad to hear that, we’ll consider working with you if you throw the rednecks under the bus and recognise that Maori are treaty partners.

Yes, I think that this information should be in the public domain but until recently people very much thought that John Key was a nice guy and most people also thought that Wall street was a long way away from New Zealand and that a little sub prime crisis with a couple of silly banks lending money to people unable to pay their loans back was just a glitch in the financial world which would come to pass like all others and we would happily go back to “economic growth”. Now that finance companies called the “shadow banking world” and very much an unregulated wild west world, worldwide are collapsing and the government has had to step in with a 150 billion and counting of taxpayers money (make no mistake, that money will be added to the national debt and you and me and every man woman an child will be paying for this and the compounded interest for generations to come if we don’t the Federal Reserve system) to prop up the international Federal Reserve system people are waking up and are more willing to take a second look.

If you want to know about the origins of our banking system watch the “money masters” and if you want to know how money is generated out of thin air by those same money masters than watch “Money as debt” and also watch the “Creature form Jekyll Island” about the secrecy surrounding the origins of the Federal Reserve of New York and you will know what kind of masters John Key served and judging by the fact that he is hell bound on borrowing money oversees and the fact that Merrill Lynch wants to privatise the NZ ACC he is still very much a foot soldier of the Wall street and London banksters.

I say foot soldier because frankly to them $50 million is chomp change, they get more in quarterly bonuses.

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In a Westminster-style, parliamentary democracy such as ours – and one that, despite MMP, remains essentially a two-party contest – it is inevitable that many of us will choose a side and then see nothing but good in our preferred ...

This is a guest post by Glenn Koorey from ViaStrada. Do you know how many fatal or injury road crashes there were in 2018? No, neither did I, until I looked it up. Turns out there were 11,433 injury crashes, ...

On its face, today's news that the Police have referred Jami-Lee Ross' now-five-month old allegations about Simon Bridges, the National Party and $100,000 in donations to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) looks like a very big deal.read more ...

by Daphna Whitmore The public have an opportunity to make submissions on gender identity being included in the Human Rights Act. The campaigning group Speak Up For Women are encouraging people to submit. The Ministry of Justice have opened ...

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The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have announced the membership of the Australia and New Zealand Electronic Invoicing Board (ANZEIB) today. This is an important step towards implementing e-Invoicing across both countries to help businesses save time and money ...

Workers who are paying too much tax because of incorrect secondary tax codes are in line for relief with the passage of legislation through Parliament late last night. The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2018-19, Modernising Tax Administration, and Remedial Matters) ...

Efforts to reverse the decline in the Chatham Islands pāua fishery are the focus of a new plan jointly agreed between government, the local community and industry. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash says the plan was developed by the PauaMAC4 Industry ...

The Police will get stronger powers of search and seizure to crackdown on synthetic drugs under new legislation, which makes the two main synthetics (5F-ADB and AMB-FUBINACA) Class A drugs. The Government has today introduced the Misuse of Drugs Amendment ...

Further steps to combat tax evasion Revenue Minister Stuart Nash has announced New Zealand is expanding its global ability to combat tax evasion by joining forces with authorities in 30 countries and jurisdictions. Cabinet has agreed to add another ...

The New Zealand Bar Association welcomes the Government’s ban on assault rifles today. NZBA’s council member, Josh McBride, says that immediate changes to the underlying legislation are now required to ensure that all military specification ...

The New Zealand Bar Association welcomes the Government’s ban on assault rifles today. NZBA’s council member, Josh McBride, says that immediate changes to the underlying legislation are now required to ensure that all military specification ...

We are delighted for Helen Clark to become Patron of the new independent think tank with University of Auckland called “The Helen Clark Foundation.” The Helen Clark Foundation is a new organisation and needs your support to grow. Helen Clark ...

While last Friday’s terrorist attack in Christchurch was the first for New Zealand, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Australia and non-resident to New Zealand says his country has been victims of violence and terrorism for more than four decades. ...

"This will not be popular among some of our members but after a week of intense debate and careful consideration by our elected representatives and staff, we believe this is the only practicable solution," Feds Rural Security spokesperson Miles ...

That the accused was able to inflict so much harm in such a short time as a licensed firearm user with an easily modified semi-automatic rifle is deeply troubling and must be kept in mind as we discuss as a ...

A vigil has been organised by a coalition of community groups led by Muslims, tangata whenua and migrants standing in firm solidarity with Aotearoa’s Muslim community, following the violent white supremacist terrorist attack targeting two Christchurch ...

Auckland Council has turned topsy-turvy with its vote to approve a $63 million bailout for Eden Park, including a $10 million no-strings-attached grant, says the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance . Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson Jo Holmes says, “Councillors ...

After the deaths of fifty people who were in the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre at prayer on Friday, the Methodist church joins in the grief of those who bear these losses directly, and in the public grief ...

In the March edition of The Fringe Magazine Waitakere Ranges Local Board chairman Greg Presland has shared his views on the imminent lodging of the resource consent for the proposed new Huia Water Treatment Plant in Waima, Titirangi. “It is ...

Primary teachers and principals will now vote in online ballots about whether to accept the Ministry's latest collective agreement offers, following the cancellation of this week's paid union meetings. ...

In school, we all learnt the phrase, "Beware the Ides of March" courtesy of Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar. The soothsayer's warning to Caesar was brushed aside and Caesar assassinated a little later in the day. For the last nearly 420 ...

A censorious and censoring attitude has engulfed responses to the mental airings of the Christchurch shooter. Material in connection with Brenton Tarrant, the alleged gunman behind the killing of 50 individuals at two mosques in New Zealand, is drying ...

The Chair of Skills Active Aotearoa, the ITO for sport, exercise, recreation and the performing arts, has described the one-week extension for submissions on the Reform of Vocational Education as “paltry”. ...

As people process the attack at two mosques in Christchurch, our Muslim whānau are hurting. But there is an outpouring of love and unity coming from across New Zealand and around the world. Thousands of people have shared messages of ...

The New Zealand Maori Council is calling on Maori from right across the nation to come out this Friday in a national show of support for the whanau and victims of last week’s terrorist attacks in Christchurch. ...

Secretary to the Treasury Gabriel Makhlouf spoke to the New Zealand India Trade Alliance in Auckland last evening on the New Zealand-India economic relationship and where the Treasury sees the opportunities and obstacles between the two countries. The ...

“The conversation New Zealand is now having regarding the use of military-style semi-automatic firearms (MSSA’s) is important and the Game Animal Council wishes to clarify several aspects in relation to their use for hunting game animals,” ...

As leaders of Abrahamic faith communities we come together to offer our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to all those who have been victimised and traumatised by this evil attack on our Muslim community in Christchurch. For all of us, ...

ACC wishes to clarify that the supports and entitlements available for family members of those killed in Friday’s terrorist attack in Christchurch is the same regardless of whether they live in New Zealand or overseas. A funeral grant, a survivor’s ...

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) extends its deepest sympathies to the victims of the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand. We urge all the governments and the people of the world to support New Zealand’s efforts to deal with the ...

Vodafone, Spark, Vocus and 2degrees are warning all customers to be cautious of scammers looking to take advantage of Kiwi generosity and benefit from the Christchurch terror attack through fraudulent donations. ...

Fifty people died in the shooting and 31 people remain in hospital. Writing on RNZ , Anjum Rahman from the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand detailed repeated attempts to lobby Government to stem discrimination against their community. ...

The National Church Leaders gathered in Wellington today (Tuesday 19th March 2019) to express their profound horror at the terrible violence towards Muslim people in Christchurch mosques last Friday. We are deeply saddened by these tragic events and ...

An Australian security expert says if New Zealand had stronger guns laws, Friday’s attack would not have been as devastating as it was. Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Border Security Programme, Dr John Coyne, says, “had the New ...

Solidarity for NZ: Trade unions around the world send messages The Public Service Association (PSA) has collated messages it has received from trade unions around the world, sending their condolences and solidarity in response to the Christchurch ...

Due to the tragic acts of violence against the Muslim community in Christchurch last Friday, the “Pacific People Say NO to the End Of Life Choice Bill” at Parliament scheduled for tomorrow Tuesday 19 March has been postponed. ...

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) welcomes the inquiry into the Christchurch terrorist attacks. “The Christchurch terrorist attacks are a horrific demonstration of violent extremism which has no place in New Zealand. NZSIS offers ...

“The attacks on Friday were an abhorrent challenge to everything that New Zealand holds dear. GCSB’s thoughts are with the families, friends and communities of the victims at this time,” said Andrew Hampton, Director-General of GCSB. ...

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of New Zealand, in condemning the recent massacre of innocent Muslims, calls on the people of Aotearoa to examine the destructive social forces that led to Friday's tragedy. “We extend our heartfelt ...

On behalf of all Grey Power Members and Associations I would like to extend our condolences and deepest sympathy’s to the victims and their families of the horrendous attacks that occurred in Christchurch this week. As New Zealanders we stand ...

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Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bi-partisan changes to gun laws announced, immigration minister urged to step in on visas of attack victim families, and stats lay bare Islamophobia in media.The first major law change since the ...

The former NZ PM says the global policy boss for the online behemoth has contacted her saying he wants to visit NZ, following an angry backlash against the platform over its livestream of a mass terrorist murder at a Christchurch ...

The Christchurch Mosque Shootings saw journalists scrambling the country over to cover the unfolding horror. New Zealand’s subreddit experienced an unprecedented rush too, swamping the volunteer moderators and exposing them to some of the worst reactions on Reddit. We speak ...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election likely to be called in about a fortnight – the weekend after the April 2 budget – behind the scenes Labor is ...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University The future management of New South Wales’s national parks is one of the issues on the line in Saturday’s state election. Other states will ...

KiwiSaver fund manager Milford Asset Management dumped its shareholdings in social media giant Facebook on Monday and joined the call from government-backed retirement fund managers for Facebook, Google and Twitter to take greater care monitoring content posted to social media ...

Farmers and investors will need to be patient with Fonterra Cooperative Group's overhaul of its business, which sometime-critic First NZ Capital analyst Arie Dekker says is moving in the right direction. ...

Armed police bedecked with flowers amid heightened national security following the Christchurch mosque attacks last Friday. Traditionazlly, New Zealand police are unarmed. Image: Sulzy/Twitter By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today announced a New Zealand ban on all ...

The government’s language so far is imprecise and it must word its ban carefully to stand up against a ferocious lobby from pro-gun groups.New Zealand lawmakers will need to write the law banning semi-automatic weapons so that it can’t be ...

Twenty years ago – before Instagram – a game about documenting your every move was released. That game was Pokémon Snap.The year was 1999. Hilary Swank was playing Brandon Teena, something that would now absolutely not be allowed. Troye Sivan was basically a fetus, ...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne When Judge Peter Kidd sentenced Cardinal George Pell last week, it was broadcast live on radio and television. It was ...

To mark the launch of the Helen Clark Foundation’s first report, its executive director Katherine Errington writes about New Zealand’s potential to become a ‘green’ hydrogen exporter.Much has been written about hydrogen of late, debating its place in the transition ...

Literal fake news is fuelling attempts to divide New Zealand’s religious communities, writes Aaron Hendry, an Auckland youth worker and Christian.In the wake of Friday’s horrific attack there is no doubt that New Zealand has changed. But perhaps one of ...

Political Roundup: Playing the Christchurch terrorism blame-game is dangerous by Dr Bryce Edwards Dr Bryce Edwards.Jacinda Ardern has led the way in how she’s responded to the Christchurch terrorist atrocity. The prime minister has emphasised the need to come ...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kotzmann, Lecturer in Law, Deakin University Your lipstick and foundation will be less likely to come at the expense of animal welfare, thanks to Commonwealth legislation that passed in recent weeks. ...

PGG Wrightson’s largest shareholder Alan Lai and his company Agria have been fined $220,000 and ordered to pay another $30,000 in costs by the High Court for breaching good character conditions imposed by the Overseas Investment Office. ...

The fifth work in Yona Lee’s In Transit series is currently exhibiting at Wellington’s City Gallery. Megan Dunn writes on the aspirations of the piece and how comfortably it sits in a gallery context.On a Sunday afternoon I opened my laptop and ...

New Zealand’s economy grew less than the central bank expected in the fourth quarter but economists don't expect the data to spur any change in the Reserve Bank's message at next week's policy review. ...

The sudden closure of Wellington’s Central Library was a shock to residents in the capital. Gem Wilder reflects on her love for the library and her hopes for its future.I received the news via the Wellington City Council twitter account, ...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Rassell, Nanoartist and creative-practice based researcher in Media, RMIT University As an experimental video-maker working at scales smaller than molecules, I surround myself in a variety of scientific visualisations. In reading ...

How dare our national airline continue to brand itself with Indigenous symbols while rejecting employees who wear those same symbols on their bodies, writes Leonie Pihama.As I sit at a conference on the island of Maui, I see tā moko ...

The removal of extremist content alone isn’t going to solve the problem of right-wing terrorism. Instead, we need to harness new technology to find such individuals early and intervene.Last week, 50 lives in Christchurch were lost in another act of ...

The PM has confirmed an inquiry will be held into the circumstances leading up to the Christchurch terrorist attacks. Alex Braae asks they will have to look into.In the wake of the terrorist attack in Christchurch, questions are being raised ...

Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – March 21 2019Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. The Beehive and Parliament Buildings.Today’s contentChristchurch mosque shootings ...

The pending announcement of the Sunwolves’ exit from Super Rugby points to a collective agreement from the SANZAAR unions that the Nations Championship is the future. However, trickle-down economics may be a hard sell for their constituents. The dollars are ...

This Race Relations Day, we call on all New Zealanders to take time out of their day to reflect. To stand united in mourning with victims of Christchurch, write Pancha Narayanan president of Multicultural New Zealand, and Paul Hunt, the chief ...